How I organized a sustainable workshop
By Emilija Krstevska 2022, North Macedonia, Aspect Foundation, Olympia, Washington State
Ecology has always been a hot topic among Gen Z and like many of my peers I consider myself an ecological activist. Since I became a CR I aimed to create projects which would help my community further become more eco-friendly, on the outside and the inside. So, here's how I promoted my community members to start a sustainable hygiene lifestyle.
On the 20th of September, in Bitola, North Macedonia I hosted a Sustainable Workshop where participants had the chance to create their carbon toothpaste, parfume with their unique scent and sugar body scrub. The aim was to introduce the participants to the simplicity of homemade cosmetics and the benefits they will receive from them as well as the environment. KLYES Alumni from all over Macedonia joined, including Isidora Stefanoska '22, Sara Stojanovska '22, and Mihaela Miladinoska '20, as well as community members.
The workshop became a conversation topic in the community; like gossip the aim of our goal began spreading, and a teacher from the high school "Taki Daskalo", D-r Florida Kulevska, reached out to me in interest in bringing the Sustainable Workshop to the cosmetology students in their school. One week later, we bought the same workshop for the senior cosmetical studnets to promote ecological cosmetics to a group of individuals who aim to work in the beauty industry.
This overall project educated over 50 young individuals on the importance of eco-cosmetics and allowed them to become one step forward towards having a more sustainable lifestyle. I hope we can continue working together with these young people and others to continue the journey of making the eco-friendly lifestyle a must rather than a plus.
All in all, we can conclude that this project was successful thanks to the volunteers who helped organize it, Eva Gjorgievska who coordinated it, Angela Tosheva who was in charge of photography, and most importantly the participants who took the time to educate themselves and come to the workshop to learn about sustainable cosmetology.